National Endowment of the Arts - The Big Read

Missoula Public Library

Contact Info

301 E Main St
Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Tel: 406/721-2665
Fax: 406/728-5900
http://www.readmissoula.org

Currently Reading

My Ántonia
Willa Cather

Learn more about this book

Events

Big Read Exhibit: Montana Prairie: Lois Conner Photographs

The Missoula Art Museum will present an exhibit of large format prairie photographs by Lois Conner in our Travel Montana Lobby in the Andrew Precht Addition. Lois Conner, a NYC based artist, has traveled the globe with her large format camera beautifully and skillfully capturing landscape and cityscape. In 2007, she came to Montana with Canadian photographer Geoffrey James and photography legend Lee Friedlander to photograph American Prairie Foundation lands adjacent to the Charles M. Russell Wild Life Refuge south of Malta. These photographs capturing the austere majesty and long views of Montana's prairie were for the book The Wide Open, alongside the writings of Judy Blunt, James Welch, Rick Bass, and other distinguished authors. In 2008, the Missoula Art Museum hosted an exhibition of the photographs, an exhibit that then traveled to other museums in the state. Conner generously donated the twelve photographs from the Wide Open to MAM's Permanent Collection, a selection of which will be in the display.

Event Location: 335 N Pattee St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Sun, Sep 9, 2012 – Wed, Oct 31, 2012
Book: My Ántonia

Bookmobile Brings Big Read to the Clark Fork River Market

MPL’s Bookmobile will visit the Clark Fork River Market. Sign up for a library card, check out a cookbook, and discover what else MPL has to offer. Find out where you can pick up a free copy of My Antonia and learn more about Missoula’s Big Read!

Event Location: Riverside Parking Lot, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Sat, Sep 22, 2012
Time: 8:00am – 1:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Book Discussion @ Barnes and Noble

Sip a hot beverage and enjoy an energetic discussion of “My Antonia.”

Event Location: 2640 North Reserve Street , Missoula, MT 59808

Date: Tue, Sep 25, 2012
Time: 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Exhibit: Homesteading: The Dream and the Realities

What was homesteading in Montana really like? Take in this virtual exhibit featuring digitized photographs, documents, and more. Curated by the Archivists at UM’s Mansfield Library.

Event Location: 32 Campus Dr, Missoula, Missoula, MT 59812

Date: Mon, Oct 1, 2012 – Wed, Oct 31, 2012
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Exhibit: Orchards in Western Montana

Learn about the early history of the region’s orchards and the homesteaders that planted them. Take in this virtual exhibit featuring digitized photographs, documents, and more. Curated by the Archivists at UM’s Mansfield Library.

Event Location: 32 Campus Dr, Missoula, Missoula, MT 59812

Date: Mon, Oct 1, 2012 – Wed, Oct 31, 2012
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Exhibit: Montana’s Pioneer Medicine @ The Learning Center

Stop by the Learning Center at St. Patrick Hospital to learn about early medical care in Montana. This display features items from the late 1800s, including medical books on contemporary diseases and treatments, tools used by doctors and nurses, early advertisements, records and journals, and photographs of hospitals, treatments, and health care practitioners.

Event Location: 500 W Broadway St, Missoula, MT 59802

Date: Mon, Oct 1, 2012 – Wed, Oct 31, 2012
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Exhibit: Montana's Pioneer Medicine @ MPL

View an historical exhibit on early medical care in Montana curated by the Learning Center at St. Patrick Hospital in the lower level of the Missoula Public Library. This display features items from the late 1800s, including medical books on contemporary diseases and treatments, tools used by doctors and nurses, early advertisements, records and journals, and photographs of hospitals, treatments, and health care practitioners. A larger in-depth exhibit on this topic is on display at the Learning Center in St. Patrick Hospital.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Mon, Oct 1, 2012 – Wed, Oct 31, 2012
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Exhibit: A Gold Washed Sky: An Historic Vision of Willa Cather's "My Antonia"

Get a feel for the country, the conditions, and the whole adventure of My Antonia through an exhibit curated by the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, on display in the lower level of the Missoula Public Library. View a smaller extension of this exhibit at the library’s Big Sky Branch, located in Big Sky High School.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Mon, Oct 1, 2012 – Wed, Oct 31, 2012
Book: My Ántonia

Painting a Prairie Landscape

An MCPS High School art teacher and an MPL Young Adult Librarian will start a prairie landscape painting on the Young Adult Room window walls and encourage teens who come to the library to add to the artwork throughout the month.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Mon, Oct 1, 2012 – Wed, Oct 31, 2012
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Exhibit: Homestead Life

What was it like to homestead in Montana? Stop by the University of Montana's Mansfield Library to get a feel for daily life on the homestead. Photos, documents, and artifacts will be on display in the library lobby.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Mon, Oct 1, 2012 – Wed, Oct 31, 2012
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Online Book Discussion

Participate in an online discussion of Willa Cather's "My Antonia" from anywhere by visiting Missoula Public Library's Facebook Page at www.facebook.com/missoulapubliclibrary.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Mon, Oct 1, 2012 – Wed, Oct 31, 2012
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read & Montana Festival of the Book Kick-Off

The Missoula Children’s Theater's teen performance group will kick-off the Big Read and the Montana Festival of the Book with a free theatrical adaptation of My Antonia. Pre-show reception at 5:30 p.m. in the theater lobby.

Event Location: 200 N Adams St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Thu, Oct 4, 2012
Time: 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Storytime: Homesteading on the Prairie

Youth Services staff will host three storytimes about life for the homesteaders on the prairie. A craft will be included at the end of the storytime.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Fri, Oct 5, 2012
Time: 10:30am – 11:30am
Date: Sat, Oct 6, 2012
Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm
Date: Sun, Oct 7, 2012
Time: 2:00pm – 3:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Info Booth @ Montana Festival of the Book

Missoula Public Library will promote The Big Read at the Humanities Montana Festival of the Book. Stop by MPL's table in the Festival exhibit area to pick up a free copy of My Antonia or our Middle and Little Read companion titles. Learn more about the exciting month of programs ahead and pick up your Big Read Missoula program calendar.

Event Location: 200 S Pattee St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Fri, Oct 5, 2012 – Sat, Oct 6, 2012
Book: My Ántonia

Altered Book Landscape Art – Montana Festival of the Book

Turn a book into a work of art during this Montana Festival of the Book and Big Read workshop. This year’s theme is landscape art with Cather quotes to give you inspiration.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Fri, Oct 5, 2012
Time: 3:00pm – 5:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Montana Women Homesteaders - Montana Festival of the Book

Who were the intrepid women who endured harsh journeys and back-breaking work to start their own homestead plots in Montana? Join University of Alberta Professor Sarah Carter for a reading and discussion of her WILLA Literary Award-winning book “Montana Women Homesteaders.”

Event Location: 335 N Pattee St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Sat, Oct 6, 2012
Time: 1:00pm – 2:30pm
Book: My Ántonia

Little Read Read Along on KUFM’s Pea Green Boat

Tune in to the Pea Green Boat on KUFM at 4:00pm every afternoon this week to read along with installments of Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Mon, Oct 8, 2012 – Fri, Oct 12, 2012
Time: 4:00pm – 5:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Book Discussion @ Missoula Public Library

UM Professor Josh Harteis will provide insight into Willa Cather’s life and work followed by a lively discussion of “My Antonia.”

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Tue, Oct 9, 2012
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Book Discussion @ Drummond School and Community Library

Join in a lively discussion of Willa Cather’s “My Antonia” at the Drummond School and Community Library.

Event Location: 108 W Edwards St, Drummond, MT 59832

Date: Tue, Oct 9, 2012
Time: 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Film Screening @ Wednesday Afternoon Matinee

Enjoy a free screening of the 1995 film about a young boy who moves to his grandparents’ homestead in Nebraska and meets the immigrant girl he’ll always remember.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Wed, Oct 10, 2012
Time: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

“The Lost Journals of Sacajawea” with Debra Magpie Earling

Join Earling for a discussion of her literary art piece “The Lost Journals of Sacajawea.” Traveling the west 100 years before the time of Cather’s My Antonia, Earling’s Sacajawea envisions how the Native way of life will disappear as white explorers, hunters, and settlers push westward.

Event Location: 32 Campus Dr, Missoula, MT 59812

Date: Wed, Oct 10, 2012
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Book Discussion @ MPL's 2nd Wednesday Book Group

Join the 2nd Wednesday Book Group in a lively discussion of Willa Cather’s “My Antonia."

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Wed, Oct 10, 2012
Time: 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Storytime: Thunderstorms

Youth Services staff will do three storytimes about thunderstorms, focusing particularly on stories set on the prairie. There will also be a craft following the storytime related to this theme.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Fri, Oct 12, 2012
Time: 10:30am – 11:30am
Date: Sat, Oct 13, 2012
Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm
Date: Sun, Oct 14, 2012
Time: 2:00pm – 3:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Film Screening: Heartland @ the Missoula Art Museum

The Missoula Art Museum will host a free a screening of the acclaimed 1979 film “Heartland,” starring Rip Torn and Conchata Ferrell and based on the 1914 memoir “Letters of a Woman Homesteader” by Elinore Pruitt Stewart. Join the film’s local producers Beth Ferris and Annick Smith for stories and Q&A discussion during a reception after the film.

Event Location: 335 N Pattee Street , Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Sat, Oct 13, 2012
Time: 1:00pm – 4:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Middle Read Dramatic Reading

Members of MPL’s middle school writing group will perform a dramatic reading of "Little Red Riding Hood: A Newfangled Prairie Tale.” Saturday, Oct. 13, 3:00 PM, somewhere surprising on the library’s main level.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Sat, Oct 13, 2012
Time: 3:00pm – 4:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

"What is it and how was it used?" Trivia Contest

Join in the fun of trying to identify artifacts that homesteaders used in their daily lives, courtesy of the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula. Clues will be posted on the library's Facebook page and www.readmissoula.org. Guess all clues correctly to be put in a drawing for great prizes!

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Sun, Oct 14, 2012 – Sun, Oct 21, 2012
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Film Screening: Sunday Afternoon Matinee

In this 1951 western film, women recruited as wives for men on the California frontier take the reins during the arduous journey across the country.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Sun, Oct 14, 2012
Time: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Willa Cather American Masters Documentary Screening

Who was the spirited individual named Willa Cather? How has her writing shaped American literature? Find out during this PBS documentary screening.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Mon, Oct 15, 2012
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Bound Like Grass: Reading and Discussion with Ruth McLaughlin

The Good Food Store’s Emily Walter will introduce Ruth McLaughlin with a sampling and history of homestead food. McLaughlin will discuss her award-winning memoir about the costs of homesteading on such unforgiving land.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Wed, Oct 17, 2012
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Little Read! Sarah, Plain and Tall Live Reading and Art Project

Enjoy FREE admission to the Families First Children's Museum, prairie art projects, and a staged reading from Little Read title Sarah, Plain and Tall with actors from Missoula Children’s Theatre!

Event Location: 225 West Front St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Thu, Oct 18, 2012
Time: 3:00pm – 5:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Book Discussion @ Frenchtown School and Community Library

Join in a lively discussion of Willa Cather’s “My Antonia” at the Frenchtown Branch Library.

Event Location: 17620 Frontage Road, Frenchtown, MT 59834

Date: Thu, Oct 18, 2012
Time: 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Book Discussion @ Lolo Branch Library

Join in a lively discussion of Willa Cather’s “My Antonia” at the Lolo Branch Library.

Event Location: 11395 Highway 93 S, Lolo, MT 59847

Date: Thu, Oct 18, 2012
Time: 6:30pm – 8:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Storytime: Prairie Animals

Youth Services staff will do three storytimes on the theme of prairie animals. There will also be a craft following the storytime related to this theme.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Fri, Oct 19, 2012
Time: 10:30am – 11:30am
Date: Sat, Oct 20, 2012
Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm
Date: Sun, Oct 21, 2012
Time: 2:00pm – 3:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Book Discussion @ Missoula Senior Center

Stop by the Missoula Senior Center to join a lively facilitated discussion of “My Antonia.”

Event Location: 705 S Higgins Ave, Missoula, MT 59801

Date: Fri, Oct 19, 2012
Time: 2:00pm – 3:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Book Discussion @ Moon-Randolph Homestead

Take a step back in time. Head over to the Moon-Randolph Homestead for a FREE tour of the historic homestead and a discussion of Big Read title "My Antonia" by Willa Cather. Friday, October 19 at 3:00 p.m.

Event Location: 1515 Spurlock Road, Missoula, MT 59802

Date: Fri, Oct 19, 2012
Time: 3:00pm – 4:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Film Screening @ Cheap Date Night

Enjoy a free screening of the 1995 film about a young boy who moves to his grandparents’ homestead in Nebraska and meets the immigrant girl he’ll always remember. Main St. doors open at 6:45 p.m. Free popcorn!

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Fri, Oct 19, 2012
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Book Discussion @ Seeley Lake Branch Library

Join in a lively discussion of Willa Cather’s “My Antonia” at the Seeley Lake Branch Library.

Event Location: High School Road, Seeley Lake, MT 59868

Date: Sat, Oct 20, 2012
Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Promoting Empty Spaces: Selected Photographs of Montana’s High Plains from Three Centuries

Local artist and scholar Kristi Hager will deliver a slide lecture entitled Promoting Empty Spaces: Selected Photographs of Montana's High Plains from Three Centuries. In the lecture, Hager will discuss photographers that drew inspiration from Montana's wide open prairie including turn of the century photographers L.A. Huffman and Evelyn Cameron, New Deal photographer John Vachon, and contemporary photographers John Smart, Geoffrey James, Lois Conner, and Lee Friedlander. Kristi Hager is a photographer and multi-disciplinary artist. She has written a book about Evelyn Cameron entitled Evelyn Cameron: Frontier Photographer, and currently provides photographs for the Library of Congress' Historic American Building Survey. Reception to follow.

Event Location: 335 N Pattee St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Sat, Oct 20, 2012
Time: 1:00pm – 3:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Homestead Demonstration Day

Watch and learn about homesteaders’ daily lives, press apples, and kick up your heels to some prairie music at Fort Missoula’s Homestead Cabin.

Event Location: Homestead Cabin at the Historical Museum at Fort Missoula, Bldg 322 Fort Missoula, Missoula, MT , Missoula, MT 59804

Date: Sat, Oct 20, 2012
Time: 1:00pm – 5:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Laura Ingalls Wilder Day

Laura Ingalls Wilder Day! Watch America’s most popular pioneer girl on film and then pretend you are Laura as staff from Missoula Parks and Recreation lead us through some pioneer crafts including basket weaving and butter making. Free samples of Big Dipper's Big Read feature flavor ice cream: "Rocky Road"!

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Sun, Oct 21, 2012
Time: 1:00pm – 4:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Home, Home on the Ranch with Bill Rossiter

Learn about the humor and tragedies unique to building a life in the rural West through songs and stories. Rossiter accompanies the songs with guitar, banjo, autoharp and harmonica, and he encourages audience members to share personal or family stories about life on the range. Partial funding for the Humanities Montana Speakers Bureau program is provided by a legislative grant from Montana’s Cultural Trust and from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Tue, Oct 23, 2012
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Heritage Quest Database Training

Learn how to start researching your family history by using census records, war records, ships records, and more! Preregistration required. Call 721-2665.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Wed, Oct 24, 2012
Time: 12:30pm – 1:30pm
Book: My Ántonia

WOW Bus Big Read Book Discussion @ Arlee

Join in a lively Big Read discussion of Willa Cather’s “My Antonia” on MPL’s “Web on Wheels” outreach bus.

Event Location: 212 Culloyah Street, Arlee, MT 59821

Date: Wed, Oct 24, 2012
Time: 2:00pm – 3:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Film Screening @ Wednesday Afternoon Matinee

Enjoy a free afternoon screening of this 1948 film following the ups and downs of a Norwegian Immigrant family around 1910.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Wed, Oct 24, 2012
Time: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

My Life as Laura: A Reading with Kelly Ferguson

Kelly Kathleen Ferguson needed to know—was connecting with her lifelong heroine the key to knowing herself? She decided to find out. Kelly donned a prairie dress and retraced the pioneer journey of Laura Ingalls Wilder. From Wisconsin to Minnesota, South Dakota to Missouri, she explored Laura’s past and her own. Part travelogue, part memoir and part social commentary, My Life as Laura shows how a relationship with a pioneer girl who lived in little houses long ago can give a sense of purpose for today. Ferguson will read from her acclaimed book, “My Life as Laura” at Missoula Public Library on Wednesday, October 24 at 7:00 p.m.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Wed, Oct 24, 2012
Time: 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Book Discussion @ Mansfield Library

Enjoy a lively discussion of Willa Cather’s “My Antonia” at Mansfield Library as part of the University of Montana’s Day of Dialog.

Event Location: 32 Campus Dr, Missoula, MT 59812

Date: Thu, Oct 25, 2012
Time: 1:00pm – 2:30pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Film Screening: Dessert and a Movie @ Frenchtown Branch Library

Enjoy themed desserts from the Frenchtown High School Home Economics department and a free screening of the 1995 Big Read film about homesteading in Nebraska.

Event Location: 17620 Frenchtown Frontage Rd, Frenchtown, MT 59834

Date: Thu, Oct 25, 2012
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Big Read Story Time: Immigration

Youth Services staff will host three storytimes on the theme of immigration. There will be a craft following the storytime related to this theme.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Fri, Oct 26, 2012
Time: 10:30am – 11:30am
Date: Sat, Oct 27, 2012
Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm
Date: Sun, Oct 28, 2012
Time: 2:00pm – 3:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Urban Homesteading Workshop with Missoula Urban Demonstration Project

Farming in the city, yesterday versus today. Learn about gardening, food preservation, chickens and small livestock, DIY crafts, herbal remedies, and more!

Event Location: 629 Phillips St., Missoula, MT 59802

Date: Sun, Oct 28, 2012
Time: 2:00pm – 4:00pm
Book: My Ántonia

Know Montana: Keepers of the Land: Three Montana Families & Their Homestead Legacies.

The Missoula Public Library Foundation’s Know Montana speaker series this month will highlight the documentary “Keepers of the Land: Three Montana Families & Their Homestead Legacies.”

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Mon, Oct 29, 2012
Time: 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Book: My Ántonia

The Wind Blew Them West: The Montana Homestead Experience

What were immigrants lives like (clothes, homes, lifestyle, weather, etc.) before and after they came to America? How did they get to their homesteads on the prairie? How did they adjust to a new life? How does one start to trace family homestead history? Find out during this multimedia presentation by Western Montana Genealogical Society President Paulette Parpart.

Event Location: 301 E Main St, Missoula, MT 59802-4735

Date: Tue, Oct 30, 2012
Time: 7:00pm – 8:30pm
Book: My Ántonia



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